America's Stonehenge Salem Reviews

For those who have never heard of this place, it is a historical and archeological site consisting of a curious collection of stone configurations clearly made by people. Who built it is not really known, whether by a Native American culture or by ancient Europeans, the later being a theory more controversial as it would put Europeans far in advance of Columbus. There are some fire pits that have been carbon dated, one as old as 7,300 years and some others around 4000 years. Some say this is only an indication of human activity in the area, but not necessarily by those who build the rock configurations. Basically there are those who call the site a hoax, perhaps made in the early 19th century, and others who believe its origins are ancient one. For those who believe the later, the purpose of the site was something spiritual, and its layout has some relationship to the calendar, similar to the Stonehenge in England.

The place originally opened to the public in 1958 to the name of Mystery Hill, but was later changed to America’s Stonehenge in 1982 to reflect what the true purpose and function of the site may have been. It’s definitely an interesting and intriguing place, perplexing to scientists and not all that well understood even to the present day, though it’s an active site for archeology to find more clues. My personal feeling is that it is way too elaborate for a hoax in the configurations and patterns of the stones, and couldn’t have been done as a hoax in the early 19th century by a shoemaker named Jonathan Pattee who settled here in 1823. An enormous amount of work went into quarrying the stones and arranging them in various configurations. The calendar aspects of the site are striking too and would require a deep understanding of relation to the seasons in the way it is oriented. It’s somewhat entertaining to wander around for a while and ponder the place. They give you a nice handout that describes the numbered sites so one can gain some understanding.

Links of interest:

https://phys.org/news/2015-09-america-stonehenge-hampshire-history-hoax.html (America's Stonehenge: New Hampshire rocks history or hoax?)